Richard Petty's STP Dodge Charger

MY FAVORITE CAR DRIVEN BY MY FAVORITE DRIVER OF ALL-TIME!

THE #43 STP DODGE CHARGER DRIVEN BY RICHARD PETTY

This is a project that I've been wanting to do for over 20 years! I tried
to find models of this car and had no luck except for ebay where they go
for
$100 + in a 1:24 scale and $200 + in a 1:16 scale depending on condition
(The only plastic models of this car were made by MPC and were discontinued
in the 1970's) So I began looking on ebay for a charger diecast (I had
heard that action made a 1:24 scale Dale Earnhardt charger) and I found
these and the #42 Marty Robbins car there. I knew slixx made a sheet for
the #43 plymouth's and I found a picture of a #43 charger with the same
basic layout of the STP logos and trunk # and ordered it and bid on a Marty
Robbins charger which I won (It was cheaper than the Earnhardt!) I had
fun
with this project but I also had some headaches!!!

Painting and Decals (body):

I first painted the body (after removing the bumpers and masking the
windows...they are not removable!) with Testors Racing Colors Petty Blue.
I then masked the red areas using scotch magic tape ...which I trimmed with
a razor blade around the windows and other tight curves. After masking I
airbrushed the red areas with testors gloss white for a base coat for the
red. I then oversprayed this with a mixture of Testors Model Master
Florescent Red (FS28915) and Model Master Italian Red (just enough to
darken
it a tad. Sorry but I can't say what the exact mix was...only a few drops
though! I then airbrushed the red mixture on the body. I masked and
painted the silver areas around the windshield and back glass with Model
Master chrome trim. I painted the rest of the silver areas after decal
application so I will go to the decals now! I first applied the white
divider stripes between the red and blue on the car. This was a very
tedious time consuming process!!! I had to cut the stripes from a piece
of
microscale white decal stock. I used a stainless steel ruler and a razor
blade and made them approximately 1/32-3/64 wide. The long straight
pieces
were easy but I had to cut a piece for virtually every corner (14 of them).
I tried to cut pieces long enough to have some to curve around for the
corners but they just were too awkward to do that way. When I tried to
curve the end it would move the long piece and then when I straightened out
the long piece it dislocated the curve! I used Microscale Micro Sol (the
heavy duty softener) and worked the stripes at the corners. I then
allowed
these to fry for several hours before I applied the slixx decals. I
started with the roof # which was the only decal that overlapped the
stripes. Note: Almost forgot! I waited to put the stripes on the hood
until after I put the STP logo on it so that I could cut the stripes even
with the white outline on the STP logo. I hadn't painted the rear spoiler
so I waited to put the #43 decal on the trunk until last! Alright, now I
used Model Master chrome trim for the rest of the silver areas around the
side windows and the false door latches. I masked the long straight areas
of the windows and hand painted the areas at the rear. Note: I used slixx
hood pin decals on this car! I painted the red on the rear bumper in the
same manner as I did the red on the body! I then applied the white $43 to
it. I painted the grille and headlight areas aluminum, then I applied
grill
decals (slixx pontiac ..1998...rectangular lower grille..all silver) and
the
#43 decal which I turned into a black with white outline number with a
extra
fine sharpie marker! Well now comes my most frantic episode of this whole
painting adventure! When I gloss coated the body the silver paint RAN!!!
On the door handles and a couple areas of the windows! The petty blue was
easy to touch up. The red was another story! I had to try to mix and
brush on the red where the door handles ran. One side went on nice and
smooth but the other left a slight unevenness which I will not make the
time
nor the effort to change. As it dried it looked much better and isn't bad
at all. Phwew! That was a relief!!! Thought I'd done all that work
...well I think you know what I mean!!! :-) That's it for the body!

Chassis painting and mods:

I cut the chassis apart starting with the floorpan and roll cage. I then
removed the dash and seat. I used the basic rollcage with the addition of
bars from a 1983 Monogram T-Bird kit including the bar from the passenger
side upper corner to the center of the rear of the cage behind the seat and
back to the floorpan in the rear. I also used the bar from the same
center
point to the area under the dash at the firewall. I was going to use the
seat out of the T-Bird kit but got a pic that showed a custom seat instead
of the modified stock bucket from the T-Bird. I then cut and trimmed the
seat from the diecast and painted it to match the picture. I used the
headrest from the T-Bird kit because the one in the picture of the interior
(same one with the seat) was mounted on the roll cage separate from the
seat. I then painted the whole cage petty blue and detailed it (rollbar
padding and seat headrest. I then painted the floorpan petty blue (I
covered the shifter and fire bottle beforehand) Then I detailed the
floorpan
and glued the seat in. I painted the dash flat black and made a
instrument
panel out of a piece of sheet styrene and a slixx gauge decal with hand
detailed switches and screws. The chassis itself I painted petty blue up
front where the fenders extend down and are part of it. I then cut a piece
of white decal stock for the front spoiler and applied it. I then hand
lettered the spoiler with "THE RACER'S EDGE". Oh yeah, one other thing I
almost forgot! The wheels!!! I had to remove the tires from the wheels
to paint them! I twisted the rear wheels and one slipped off the shaft
and
I pilled it out and was able to do the rear wheels easily but the front
wheels don't come off (I tried to remove the front suspension but couldn't
get the screws out and didn't want to push it! Anyway, I got the wheels
painted and the tires back on...these are a bear too but they will come off
the rims and go back on! Now, I put the floorpan in the chassis, I then
put the roll cage in I didn't glue it (it will hold by itself once the body
is screwed down to the chassis! I then mounted the body and screwed it
down on the chassis. I painted the fuel filler which I had forgotten!
Lastly I painted the window net red and glued it to the upper rollbar with
craft glue. The window net was made from the 1983 T-Bird kit net with 1
row of the webbing removed for a better fit in the action cage. Note: I
added a styrene strip to the top of the net for a better look at the top!
Well there it is! I am going to get the pics I took during assembly of
this car and put them up on the site later!

Complete instructions for painting and assembly of chassis, clear
parts, and construction of slab sides can be found at the bottom of the main page!